About a month and a half ago I officially finished graduate school…WOW. I never thought that I would get to this moment. The first day of classes, I can remember walking into class questioning my decision to even enroll in a course. I was intimidated by my classmates and by professors who were teaching in their specialized fields with their big degrees. I was intimidated by the discussions and the big words people used wondering if I was even smart enough or had enough experience to add any significance to the discussion at all. Would I last…?
2 years later I sit and look back at that scared young lady and chuckle at her. With every new class that I enrolled in I remembered myself saying “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this class” but by the grace of God I did. With great grades. I’m so thankful to my Heavenly Father for even blessing me with an opportunity to get a masters degree knowing that I didn’t have the funds to do so.
When I graduated from my undergraduate institution, I knew that if I wanted a graduate education that I would have to secure a job at a higher education institution that would cover my tuition. I prayed, God blessed me with a job. Not just any ‘ole job, but a job I actually liked and enjoyed going to. Now that I was employed, I had to figure out a) what I wanted to study and b) I would have to actually get into the program. If you read one of my previous blogs, you might remember the story I told about having an emotional break down because I didn’t know what I wanted to study or what I wanted to do. I always knew I liked working in the Higher Education industry, that was about it. While training in my new job, I came across a program that was offered in the school that I did admissions for EdM in Policy, Planning and Administration with a concentration in Higher Education Administration. I had no clue one could get a degree in in Higher Ed. Now that was God. Not only was there a degree but it was in a school that I worked which gave me an opportunity to prove myself professionally to the faculty that would eventually be reading my application.
I eventually got up the nerve to submit my application. When it went up to the faculty, even though I had thoroughly networked with them at this point, I asked to be treated like any other applicant. I wanted to get in by my own merit and not because of who I knew. God continued to walk with me to the very end. In my line of work and, being a student who has been through the process I would give a few tips (note this may serve different for other degrees):
1. Do your research: Know exactly what you want to do. It’s pretty awkward showing up to an admissions office to speak with a representative not having a clue what you want to do. They are not career counselors, they are not going to give you a test to figure out your personality or hold your hand through the entire process. It’s not that they’re being mean, it’s just not their area of expertise. It’s very different from undergraduate admissions. They of course, are willing to help guide you but they won’t do it for you. At the graduate level, everything is very specific, so if a school has multiple different programs they won’t have the time to talk about every single detail of every single program
2. Get in touch with faculty: in most grad schools, they are the ones that are making the decision, not the admissions representatives. Since graduate study is so specific, you want to make sure you’re getting the nitty gritty details on the program to make sure that it offers what you are looking for. You don’t want to go enroll in a program that’s not a good fit for you.
3. Grad school is not like undergrad: This was a factor that shocked me the most. I was used to going to class, hearing a lecture, writing some notes, studying the notes and taking a test. If I were writing a paper in undergrad, I kind of feel like I didn’t really have to KNOW what I was talking about. All I would have to do is appear to know and I’d get a good grade. In grad school…NO. All of my classes were heavily discussion based, no real lectures, I never had a test but had lots of projects and papers to write. Long papers in which I had to know my stuff. Professors will know if you’re bluffing, lol.
4. Use the school’s resources: Grad school is challenging as heck but there is help! Schools often times have tutoring available, TAs, writing clinics and even the professors. Don’t be afraid to ASK if you need the help. The point of grad to IS to challenge you but professors generally want their students to succeed and be great. Use them!
5. Kiss your social life goodbye: for the most part. I was determined to still do all the extra curricular activties that I usually did and was going to hang out with my friends all the time. All that does is overwhelm you, frustrate you and stress you out. Come to terms that if you do see your friends, it won’t be as often…but it’s only for a season and that masters is worth it
I’m so glad for school to be over. Now I can chill and just enjoy life once again. I am appreciative that I am not in the position that I was in last time I finished school. After finishing undergrad, I was an emotional wreck because I didn’t know what was next. Since then, I have found and established a relationship with Christ. In that relationship I have learned to trust Him. So once again, here I am, not knowing what’s next, but I’m calm. Knowing that all I have to do is put one foot in front of the next and I will be LED where I NEED to be.
xoxo
Tasha
Tasha
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